A compound found in broccoli improves diabetic outcomes to an extent that rivals the go-to drug treatment, according to a new study. Photo by Flickr user LID/Jonas Ingold.

Pills, pills, pills. It seems every ailment from headaches to high blood pressure needs them. But, what if you could swap the medication for vegetables?

An international group of researchers envision such a future for type-2 diabetics based on new results published Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Their findings show how a compound found in broccoli improves diabetic outcomes to an extent that rivals the go-to drug treatment, with fewer severe side effects.

To many patients, it might be more attractive to take a broccoli shot or drink than having to take another pill, said Anders Rosengren, at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and the studys senior author.

Diabetes afflicts more than 400 million people worldwide, four times as many people as in 1980. Part of the problem is the disease can progress unnoticed for years, even decades, until severe complications like compromised kidney function arise.

Its why we need to be so active with this disease so we have the proper treatment at early stages, Rosengren said.

Their project wants to find an alternative for metformin, a gold-standard drug that tackles a hallmark of diabetes: runaway production of glucose in the liver. Insulin normally keeps glucose on a tight leash, but becomes dysregulated in diabetes. Although metformin works well, it has a few problems.

One problem is that it cannot be taken by people with poor kidney function, Rosengren said, yet poor kidney function is one of the most common complications of type-2 diabetes. And metformin can cause side effects including stomach pain, bloating and diarrhea in some patients.

Diabetes is not attributable to one gene, but rather a collection. So Rosengren and his colleagues wanted a drug that could modify a network of diabetes-related genes. A preliminary test, associating a set of 50 liver genes involved in type-2 diabetes and 3,800 drugs, landed on a compound called sulforaphane. Sulforaphane is found in cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli, and has improved insulin responses in diabetic rats in previous studies.

To determine if sulforaphane modifies blood sugar levels, the researchers completed a series of investigations before conducting a human trial.

Early tests showed that sulforaphane could prevent glucose overproduction in liver cells grown in petri dishes. Next, the team tried their luck in rodent models of diabetes. There, they found sulforaphane both prevented the development of glucose intolerance, a hallmark of diabetes, and lowered blood glucose levels as much as metformin did.

Emboldened by these positive results, the researchers recruited 97 type-2 diabetics from Sweden to take daily doses of sulforaphane in the form of a highly concentrated, liquid broccoli sprout extract or a placebo for 12 weeks.

Only the patients who took broccoli extract showed a clear reduction in blood sugar levels.The broccoli extract was most effective for overweight patients with unmanaged type-2 diabetes. Plus, no patients on the broccoli regimen reported severe or lasting side effects during the three-month study.

Alongside the other lifestyle things like physical activity and not eating a whole lot of refined sugars, this could be a promising therapy, said Chris DAdamo, an epidemiologist and healthy lifestyle expert at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study. It needs to be replicated, [but] I was positively surprised by the degree of efficacy that it showed and the lack of noticeable side effects.

But before you rush to the grocery store, know that the amount of sulforaphane taken by the patients was approximately 100 times that found naturally in broccoli or the equivalent of consuming 11 pounds of broccoli per day.

Rosengren is encouraged by the results, but advises that people should wait for drug regulators to approve broccoli sprout extract for type-2 diabetes before they rush to try the treatment.

It has the potential to become an important complement to existing treatment options for type-2 diabetes, Rosengren said.

See more here:
Tired of taking pills for diabetes? How about a shot of broccoli? - PBS NewsHour

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Diane Abbott back in shadow cabinet after diabetes struggle - BBC News

If a promising new study lives up to expectations, doctors might soon be prescribing a pill containing an antioxidant found in broccoli to obese patients with Type 2 diabetes (Credit: Margareta Gustafsson Kubista/University of Gothenburg)

Love it or hate it, Swedish scientists have found another reason for you to load up on broccoli, or at least finish what's on your plate. As it turns out, sulforaphane, a powerhouse antioxidant found in the vegetable, could be Nature's secret weapon against type 2 diabetes, offering obese patients a way to slash their blood glucose levels and fight the disease.

This is not the first time sulforaphane has been in the health spotlight. Found in cruciferous greens such as broccoli and cabbage (though if you want to get the most bang for your bite, broccoli sprouts are the way to go), the compound is known for its cancer-fighting and anti-inflammation properties. However hardly anything was known about its effect on type 2 diabetes until now.

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Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body isn't able to make enough insulin or to use the hormone to regulate blood glucose levels. This causes a build-up of sugar in the blood and for obese patients, their excess body fat makes it harder for the liver and muscle tissue to absorb this excess blood glucose. At present, type 2 diabetes affects more than 300 million people worldwide and makes up 90 percent of all diabetes cases.

While metformin is the industry standard for controlling blood glucose, the drug is not suitable for everyone, in particular those with reduced kidney function, which affects 15 percent of those with the disease. In addition, it has been reported to cause side-effects such as nausea, bloating, abdominal pain, or diarrhea in some 30 percent of patients who take it.

In their search for an alternative therapy, researcher Annika Axelson of the University of Gothenburg and her colleagues decided to use a different tactic. Instead of targeting an individual gene or protein, they focused on identifying the genes responsible for the liver's elevated glucose production, a key disease mechanism. By analyzing the liver tissue of diabetic mice that had been fed a high-fat diet, they eventually identified a network of 50 genes responsible for causing increased blood glucose levels. This was then matched against different compounds for drugs that could potentially reverse the disease.

Of the 2,800 substances that they investigated, one stood out: sulforaphane. Researchers were alerted to its potential impact on diabetes when they found it tamping down glucose production in cultured liver cells.

When tested in rodents with dietary-induced diabetes, the researchers found that their blood sugar dropped by 23 percent in four weeks when they were given the compound, which was comparable to the 24 percent drop in those that were given metformin. To ensure sulforaphane was directly responsible for this change, they removed it from the extract to see what would happen, and as co-author Anders Rosengren notes, the effect disappeared.

"We also looked at the genes from the liver of the animals and saw that the 50 key genes had been changed in the right direction," he adds.

Encouraged by the results, they tested it on people next. The 12-week randomized placebo-controlled study involved 97 type 2 diabetes patients who were given a powdered broccoli sprout extract containing 100 times the amount of sulforaphane found naturally in broccoli. All, with the exception of three, were also on metformin. Given what they had seen in the animal experiments, the researchers report that it was "not surprising" that sulforaphane had the greatest impact on obese participants with dysregulated diabetes, whose glucose levels decreased significantly while fasting enough to meet the 7 percent goal recommended by the American Diabetes Association.

That said, while sulforaphane might seem like a miracle worker, there is a limit to what it can do on its own. When rats were fed a high-fructose diet with a 60 percent fat content, the researchers found that even though it had positive side effects, the diet was "too severe a stressor to fully prevent glucose intolerance." In addition, as the researchers note in the study, the extract "did not change body weight, BMI, liver parameters, cholesterol concentration, plasma triglycerides, or blood hemoglobin concentration [in obese human patients.]" In other words, patients will also need to adopt appropriate lifestyle habits to get the most out of the therapy. As numerous studies have shown, diet and an active lifestyle are key to preventing and reversing the disease.

Moving forward, the researchers will continue to study the potential of broccoli sprouts extract as an alternative drug treatment. In addition, since all the participants involved in the study were Scandinavian, more data is also needed to document its impact on other groups of patients, such as those with pre-diabetes.

"High doses of BSE cannot yet be recommended to patients as a drug treatment but would require further studies, including data on which groups of patients would potentially benefit most from it," note the authors.

If all goes well, the researchers say the plan is to bring the broccoli sprout extract to market within two years and there's a good reason it would be better as a pill. To experience the benefits reported in the study, a person with diabetes would need to eat four to five kilograms (8.8 to 11 pounds) of broccoli a day.

That said, manufacturers of metformin need not worry. Rather than see it as a competitor, the researchers regard sulforaphane as a "supplement to existing medication." Metformin works by decreasing the amount of glucose that the liver releases into the blood stream and also makes cells more receptive to insulin. Sulforaphane, on the other hand, stops the liver enzymes from over-producing glucose and also has the advantage of having mild side-effects, thus offering those who can't take metformin a viable alternative. As a naturally occurring compound, it could also have other benefits.

"As functional food, it can reach the patients faster than a medication, and it is also an interesting concept from a diabetes perspective where diet is central," says Rosengren.

The study was published in Science Translational Medicine.

Source: Lund University

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Broccoli compound could offer obese diabetics a drug-free way to slash blood sugar levels - New Atlas

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Excessive Heat Warningissued June 18 at 2:48PM MST expiring June 22 at 8:00PM MST in effect for: Coconino

Excessive Heat Warningissued June 17 at 3:01PM MST expiring June 22 at 8:00PM MST in effect for: Coconino, Gila, Yavapai

Heat Advisoryissued June 17 at 3:01PM MST expiring June 22 at 8:00PM MST in effect for: Yavapai

Heat Advisoryissued June 17 at 3:01PM MST expiring June 22 at 8:00PM MST in effect for: Apache, Coconino, Navajo

Excessive Heat Warningissued June 17 at 2:15AM MST expiring June 22 at 8:00PM MST in effect for: Coconino

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Excessive Heat Watchissued June 14 at 3:18AM MST expiring June 20 at 8:00PM MST in effect for: Coconino, Gila, Yavapai

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'Animal House' actor Stephen Furst dies from diabetes complications - ABC15 Arizona

JENNINGS The Childhood Diabetes Expense Relief Fund will hold its annual Glow Run on da Bayou 7-10 p.m. Saturday, June 24, at the baseball fields at 1206 East Academy Ave.

The goal of the run, which last year drew over 200 runners and 150 spectators, is to raise money to help families of children with Type 1 diabetes buy insulin and testing supplies and meet other medical needs, said Casey Doucet, local CDERF president.

We hope to see over 500 people this year and would love to see our participants count break the 300 mark. Doucet said. Our main goal, however, is to educate and bring awareness to people locally and have a blast while doing so.

Doucet and his wife, Monique, created CDERF after their son, Wyatt, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in February 2014 at the age of 3.

We had no idea the struggles that we would be facing just trying to keep him alive day after day. After six months of the daily stresses involved with treating our child with this disease, the bills began to roll in, Doucet said.

On top of all the things weve had to deal with, we now had to choose which bill wasnt getting paid this month due to the cost of diabetesrelated medications and supplies. These supplies are literally a matter of life and death, so you do not have the option of not getting them.

The Doucets began discussing ways to help other families facing the same issues, and they hit on the idea of forming the group.

It is our goal that other families do not have to face these circumstances, Doucet said. We feel like if this is the path we are meant to take with Wyatt, then we want to help others who are also facing these difficulties.

The Glow Run is not the main fundraiser for the group, but it is the main public outreach effort, he said.

It allows us to meet people in this area and helps us to raise awareness of this awful disease, Doucet said.

During last years Glow Run, we met several local families who had Type 1 diabetic children. We have been able to help several of them financially, as well as with advice or just an understanding listening ear.

The run will start at the west entrance of the Jennings Park and Recreation parking lot and travel east on East Academy, turning right onto River Oak Drive, circling the subdivision and retracing the route to the starting line.

Registration is available atcderf.org/glowrunthrough midnight June 23 and 5-6 p.m. in the park on race day.

Entry fees are $25 for adults; $20 for children 12-17; $15 for children 7-11; and $10 for non-participants. Children 6 and under enter free.

Awards will be presented to the top three runners in each division, as well as the top male and female in each age group.

Early registrants who sign up before midnight on June 20 will receive a T-shirt, glow items and a water bottle. Participants may also bring their own glow items.

Food and drinks will be provided for all paid participants. Spectators can buy a $10 wristband and eat. Children 6 and under will eat and drink free.

For more information, call CDERF at 337-329-1372 or emailinfo@cderf.org.

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Glow Run fundraiser set for Childhood Diabetes Expense Relief Fund - American Press

Ten-year-old Sherborn resident Jillian Tierney was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in August 2016; when faced with the decision of which charitable organization she would highlight for her fifth-grade Citizenship Project, Tierney chose Joslin Diabetes Center, where she receives her care from Dr. Anat Hanono.

Ten-year-old Sherborn resident Jillian Tierney was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in August 2016; when faced with the decision of which charitable organization she would highlight for her fifth-grade Citizenship Project, Tierney chose Joslin Diabetes Center, where she receives her care from Dr. Anat Hanono.

Dr. Peter Amenta, president and CEO of Joslin Diabetes Center, joined Jillian and her family at Pine Hill Elementary School for the fifth-grade expo on June 7, where she debuted her project. Tierney showed Amenta her diabetes kit and demonstrated how she uses her glucose monitor, answered questions on the importance of counting carbs, and offered up information and statistics on diabetes for the parents and friends in attendance.

Joslins pediatrics department encourages and allows for young patients to continue pursuing their goals and participating in normal activities as part of learning to incorporate diabetes into their everyday life, and Tierney does not let her recent diagnosis slow her down. She plays soccer, recently finished a spring production of Mulan at a local theater company and will attend coastal ecology camp and a diabetes camp this summer.

For more information, visit http://www.joslin.org.

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Sherborn's Jillian Tierney shows how she deals with diabetes - Wicked Local Acton

By Reuters By Reuters June 17

Properly treating a common sleep-related breathing disorder may have benefits for the heart and for blood sugar, a new study suggests.

If people with obstructive sleep apnea dont use machines at night to help keep the airway open, measures of their heart health and blood sugar worsen, researchers found.

One of the long-standing debates in our field is whether sleep apnea causes heart issues and problems with blood sugar or if theyre just associated, said the studys senior author, Jonathan Jun of Johns Hopkins University.

In obstructive sleep apnea, the airway intermittently collapses or becomes blocked during sleep. The blocked airway causes pauses in breathing. Some people address this by using CPAP continuous positive airway pressure machines at night to keep the airway open.

In the past, researchers have tried to directly link sleep apnea with heart health and blood sugar by comparing patients instructed to use CPAP devices with patients instructed to sleep without these machines. But one of the major issues with those studies is that people may not actually use the CPAP machine, Jun said by phone.

For the new study, the researchers recruited 31 people with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea who were known to regularly use CPAP machines.

The participants slept two nights in a lab, using their CPAP device on only one of the nights. The researchers obtained blood samples while participants slept.

We are looking at real-time changes, Jun said. Were getting blood every 20 minutes.

As reported in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, on the night without CPAP, patients obstructive sleep apnea returned. On those nights, the participants had low levels of oxygen in their blood, poor sleep and an increased heart rate.

Additionally, their blood samples showed increases in fatty acids, sugar and the stress hormone cortisol.

The researchers also saw increases in blood pressure and arterial stiffness, which has been linked with a risk for heart problems.

These were obese patients and patients with relatively severe sleep apnea. They also had other medical problems, Jun pointed out. People who fit that description may be experiencing the same changes if they sleep without using a CPAP machine, he said.

Glucose and fatty acids rose in the overall group without the CPAP machines, but participants with diabetes may be more vulnerable to the glucose elevation, Jun warned.

He said the study cant say what would happen to people with milder sleep apnea.

Because obesity has been tied to an increased risk of sleep apnea, it has been difficult to know whether its sleep apnea or obesity that is causing those problems, Jun noted.

The new study, he said, advances that idea that other conditions and not obesity itself are drivers of those levels.

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Untreated sleep apnea may worsen markers of heart health and ... - Washington Post